The Microbiome as a Therapeutic Target for Multiple Sclerosis: Can Genetically Engineered Probiotics Treat the Disease?

Diseases

HannahM. Kohl¹  Javier Ochoa-Repáraz¹  AndreaR. Castillo¹ 

[1] Department of Biology, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA 99004, USA;

关键词: probiotics;    microbiota;    microbiome;    multiple sclerosis;    EAE;   

DOI  :  10.3390/diseases8030033

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

There is an increasing interest in the intestinal microbiota as a critical regulator of the development and function of the immune, nervous, and endocrine systems. Experimental work in animal models has provided the foundation for clinical studies to investigate associations between microbiota composition and function and human disease, including multiple sclerosis (MS). Initial work done using an animal model of brain inflammation, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), suggests the existence of a microbiota–gut–brain axis connection in the context of MS, and microbiome sequence analyses reveal increases and decreases of microbial taxa in MS intestines. In this review, we discuss the impact of the intestinal microbiota on the immune system and the role of the microbiome–gut–brain axis in the neuroinflammatory disease MS. We also discuss experimental evidence supporting the hypothesis that modulating the intestinal microbiota through genetically modified probiotics may provide immunomodulatory and protective effects as a novel therapeutic approach to treat this devastating disease.

【 授权许可】

Unknown